EA revisits the CSK debate. Stay tuned for an EA interview here at the BBS, mid-summer.

I’ve wanted to feature an African American cartoonist or a graphic novelist here for awhile now. Mama’s Boyz: Home Schoolin’ and Mama’s Boyz: As American as Sweet Potato Pie!, by author and illustrator Jerry Craft, are funny, informing, and inspirational. Don: How did you come to be an artist/cartoonist? Jerry: Ever since I was old [ Read the full article… ]

Editorial Anonymous’s post, The CSK is Dead (Long Live CSK) has generated a lively discussion about race and publishing. Go, take a look…

Hey everyone. Cross-posting from Paula’s JORT today. Can you please pass along to your teen readers (and those teen at heart) that I’m hosting my first live chat on Monday, May 18th 8 p.m. Eastern time at my blog. It’s easy to join. Just drop in at the blog, during the chat time and start [ Read the full article… ]

Hello, Hello. I’m cross-posting from my own blog, today. As part of the CORA Roll Call, I decided to jump in and assess whether or not my books, Jumped by Rita Williams Garcia and Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson challenged stereotypes and embraced diversity. Read more…

Crazy Quilts has announced its Crazy-Color Summer Reading List. Recall, that Edi Campbell called for suggestions so that she could create a diverse list of teen reads. Naturally, when I hear diverse I immediately think race. But Edi took it several steps beyond that and chose ten books that touched across race, culture, genre and [ Read the full article… ]

Look up and to your right. Notice anything different about The Brown Bookshelf main nav bar? Anything? Huh? Do ya’ see it? We have a Teen Lit page. ::applause here:: Thank you. Thank you. Please, take your seats. Although our mission is to increase awareness among gatekeepers to the kingdom of kiddie lit – i.e. [ Read the full article… ]

I come from a very politically correct family. My father was the Director of Transportation for a small city system for most of my life growing up and he instilled in me that everything is “political.” So I’m careful what I say. Careful how I say it. It’s not being duplicitous, it’s understanding that anything [ Read the full article… ]